Packing machine and method of packing



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PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD OF PACKING Filed Sept. 12, 1933 14 Sheets-Sheet 13 Feb. 9, 1937. R. E. READ PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD OF PACKING Filed Sept. 12, 1933 14 Sheets-Sheet 14 mom In vernQr ROBERT E. 5140 Patented Feb. 9, 1937 PACKING MACHINE AND METHOD OF PACKING Robert E. Read, White Plains, N. Y

Application September 12, 1933, Serial No. 689,098

4] Claims.

My present invention relates to a machine and method for the automatic packing of bottles in cartons. This invention is designed to place filled or empty bottles in protecting means, such as, for example, pulp trays having recesses each designed to hold a single bottle and protect it from others, and to place these protecting means containing the bottles in cartons or boxes. Although it is obvious that various forms of protecting means may be utilized, the illustrated embodiment is designed to accommodate the form of protecting means commonly known as a bottle tray and formed of moulded wood pulp. It is also to be understood that these protecting means may be utilized to protect empty bottles or other articles such as, for example, radio tubes, but that the present embodiment comprises a machine peculiarly designed to pack filled standard bottles, such as are used in the beverage industries. Also, any form of box or carton may be utilized while the present machine merely illustrates a form of carton commonly known as the fiap end carton which is made of straw board or other light manufactured board. For the sake of consistent terminology, the machine will be described in connection with filled bottles which are placed in bottle trays and deposited in cartons.

An object of my invention is to economically pack bottled goods in trays whereby they are protected from breakage, and thereupon to pack the filled trays in cartons within which they are to be shipped. Heretofore bottles have been protected against breakage in various manners, and as far as I am aware, any present method of packaging bottles in protecting means is carried out manually. By means of my device filled bottles are placed in pulp trays and the trays are placed within cartons with a minimum of manual effort being required. With my machine only two attendants are required, one to insert trays to receive the bottles and another to place cartons in position to receive the filled trays. It is obvious that a tremendous saving in packaging costs is effected by the use of my machine.

A second object of myinvention is to enable bottling plants to consistently follow the practice of sanitarily bottling their goods. In the present practice of most plants it is customary to sterilize the bottles and the caps and to fill the bottles and cap'them under sterile atmospheric conditions without the bottle being touched by human hands. After having been filled it is also customary to pasteurize the bottles in a pasteurizing machine. However, due to the present lack of carton filling facilities it is considered necessary to have the bottles manually removed from the delivery end of the sterilizing machine and placed in boxes or cartons. With my automatic packing machine it becomes possible for the first time to have the bottles sent to the consumer without having been touched by human hands from the moment they are first sterilized.

Another advantage of my machine is that the output of a bottling plant may be materially increased without the necessity forlncreasing the present floor space to accommodate carton packing tables, etc. One of my machines is capable of receiving bottles from a plurality of filling, capping, 1abeling,'or other machines, and as heretofore related, two attendants will package this output. The normal working capacity of my machine is 120 bottles per minute, but it may operate at much slower or faster speeds, the normal speed being merely controlled by normal standard practice in bottling plants. These bottles are placed in trays each capable of receiving six bottles. These trays may then be packaged in cartons capable of receiving one, two, three or preferably four trays, although obviously any number or; trays may be packaged in a carton designed therefor. With the preferred carton holding four trays, the output of the machine at normal speed will be five filled cartons per minute.

These and other advantages of mymachine will be obvious from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout:

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the entire machine drawn to a small scale in order to show all of the component parts;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the entire machine looking at the right end of Fig. 1 or the bottle receiving end;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the entire machine looking at the left end of F.g. 1 or the carton ejecting end;

Fig. 6 is a section in elevation of a portion of Fig. 1 taken along the line 6-6 and enlarged in order to show details;

Fig. 7 is a view of a detail of the machine taken along line 1-1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a section taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 1 and illustrating details of the tray stacking andcarton packing mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of one of the bottle feeding mechanisms with certain parts broken away 2- v in order more clearly to illustrate details th Fig. is a vertical section taken along the lin Ill-I8 of Fig. 9 and showing the mariner of placing bottles in the trays Hg. 11 is an irregular section taken along line ||-|l of Fig. 10 and showing a portion of'the mechanism for placing the bottles in the trays;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 10 taken along line l2-l2 of Fig. 3 and illustrating the bottle gripping mechanism before it has fully received a bottle; a V

Fig. 13 is a section taken along line l2-l2 of Fig. 1 and showing one of the bottle gripping mech in a ay;

Fig. 14'is a section along the line ll-ll of Fig. 10;

Fig. 15 is a section taken along line l5-|5 of Fig. 2 and looking toward the right end of the machine;

Fig. 16 is-a partial section taken along line |8-|6'of Fig. 10 showing details of the bottl gripping mechanism;

Fig; 17 is a section of the bottle gripping mechanism taken along line II-ll of Fig. 10;

Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 are perspective views of parts of the bottle gripping mechanism:

Fig. 20 is a vertical section taken along line 28-28 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 21 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but illustrating a later relationship of parts;

. Fig. 22 is a view similar to Fig. 8 and showing a slightly more advanced relationship than that of Fi 21;

Fig. 23 is a partial'view similar'to Fig. 8, but showing the mechanism in a stage later than the position of Fig. 22; I

Fig. 24 is a still later stage; 7

Fig. 25 illustrates the relationship of parts between the stages of Figs. 22 and 23;

' Fig. 26 is a partial rear elevation which illus-' trates a portion of the mechanism of Fig. 8 at the position of Fig. 23

Fig. 27 is a view similar to Fig. 24 and showing a later relationship of parts;

Fig. 28 is a section taken along the line 28-28 of Fi 26;

Fig. 29 isa vertical section taken along line 28-28 of Fig. 21;

Fig. 30 is a vertical section taken along line 38-38 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 31 is a vertical section taken on line 2 |-3| of Fig. 20 and showing a portion of a safety clutch device;

. Fig. 32 is a section taken along line 22-32 of Fig. 33;

Fig. 33 is a section taken along line 23-33 of Fig. 30;

Fig. 34 is a view similar to Fig. 31 but showing a different relationship;

Fig. 35 is a section taken along line 25-35 of Fig. 33;

Fig. 36 is a vertical section taken along line 38-36 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 37 is a view similar to Fig. 36 but showing the operation of mechanism whereby a stack of trays is compressed into its proper height;

Fig. 38 is a'section taken along line 88-88 of 39 is a section taken along line 28-38 of 5 1320 is a section taken along line 48-88 of g- 12 41 is a section taken along line ll-ll of sms releasing a bottle which it is placing I aooaoae Fig. 1 and showing a filled carton being ejected from the machine; v

Fig. 42 is a section taken along line 42-82 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 43 is a wiring diagram for the machine;

Hg. 44 is a vertical section of a modified form of carton packing device;

Fig. 45 is a top plan view of Fig. 44;

Fig. 46 is a vertical section taken along line 48-88 of P18. 44:, a Y

Fig. 47 is a modified form of tray advancing cam and gears adapted to pack two trays in a carton; and 1 Iflg. 48 is a similar view of a cam adapted to pack one tray.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, my machine comprises three main sections; section A being the tray filling mechanism, section B being the tray stacking mechanism, and section C being the carton packing mechanism. Section A of the machine will first be described. and the description will thereafter follow the progress of a bottle through the machine.

Tray filling mechanism This portion of the machine comprises two Referring to Figs. 6 to 15 inclusive, it is seen that the mechanism referred to heretofore is driven from a main drive pulley 52 mounted on a shaft 54 which carries a gear and a hand-wheel. This gear meshes with gear 55 on shaft '56 which can'ies a gear 51. Gear 5'! drives gear 58 fixed to the main conveyor drive shaft 58. A sprocket 68 attached to shaft .59 drives a shaft 8| through a chain and sprocket 62 on shaft 6|. Shaft 8| extends from one side of the machine through to the other and sprocket 62 which drives the shaft is attached to a collar fixed to one part of a clutch which will be described later. In Fig. 10 one end of shaft 6| is illustrated, the opposite end being identical but reversed. A sprocket 82 at the end of the shaft drives the bottle receiving conveyor through sprocket chain 88 and sprocket 65 on a shaft 66. Shaft 88 is mounted on bearings attached to angle bars forming the bottlereceiving table 5| and carries a centrally located sprocket 61 driving the bottle feeding conveyor 68. This conveyor consists of a sprocket chain, the links of which carry flat plates adapted to bring the bottles forward by frictional contact with their lower ends. The bottles are received from the capping and other machines and guided between adjustable guides 88 supported by brackets Ill and adjustable bolts l| so that the guides may be set to receive and align various sizes of bottles. The plates of the conveyor 68 may slip beneath the line of bottles so that the bottles are constantly edged forward in abutting relationship but are not positively forced forward. It is obvious that-the conveyor will best serve its purpose when driven at a speed slightly greater than that necessary to remove the bottles from the preliminary machines. It is also clear that any form of belt conveyor will serve this purpose and that the form illustrated is merely the best form whereby the above results are accomplished. The guides 69 extend forwardly and adjacent a star wheel I2 which is adapted to convey the bottles in sets of three and position them within the bottle gripping apparatus which eventually places them in the pulp trays. For this purpose star wheel I2 is driven by bevel gears I3, I4 from shaft BI. Gear I4 drives an upright shaft I5 which has a niember I6 fixed to its uppermost end. A bore in member 16 carries a spring pressed ball I1 which fits in a depression in the star wheel I2 to rotate the wheel under ordinary working pressure. However, if a bottle should for any reason jam, the ball ll will slip out of its depression and the star wheel will remain stationary while the remainder of the machine continues to operate. In this way any breakage of bottles is prevented. The star wheel consists of a hub portion surrouning the shaft I5 and two integral discs spaced above and below the guides 69. The star wheel has bottle receiving spaces around its circumference which are so spaced as to bring a bottle opposite each of one of the bottle gripping mechanisms and to present a blank space to the corresponding blank space on the bottle placing conveyor. The bottle gripping mechanisms are so positioned that three bottles are received on one side of the machine and brought into position adjacent the spaces between three bottles on the other side of the machine. When tipped forward to be placed within the pulp trays it will be obvious that six bottles will be placed in alternate neck to bottom relationship for which the pulp tray is designed. The inner guide 69 is cut short while the outer guide 69 extends around the star wheel and ends adjacent the bottle gripping mecha-' nism to hold the bottles in the star wheel. A bottle will be forced into the star wheel holding space under the frictional force of conveyor 68 and will be held in this space by the outer guide 69 as the star wheel brings the bottle around into proper relationship with the gripping mechanism. The star wheel is positioned above a small table or plate 18 which extends from the conveyor 68 to a position adjacent the bottle gripping mechanism. It is difiicult without further means to properly seat the bottle squarely within the gripping means, and for this reason a pivoted arm 19 extends over table I8 and is curved around the hub of star wheel I2. This arm is pivoted to table ii at and is biased by a spring BI to force the bottles away from the star wheel and properly seat them in the bottle gripping mechanism.

While I have illustrated and described a form of feeding device whereby three bottles are positioned by star wheel I2 at one side of the machine to be alternately placed with a set of three bottles positioned by the star wheel I2 at the opposite side of the machine, various other numbers of bottles may be positioned and placed within trays or protecting means so designed to accommodate such other numbers. In connection therewith, star wheel I2 in the drawings is formed with three bottle receiving spaces at points substantially degrees from each other, leaving practically a quadrant of the star wheel as a spacing means. In order to position one bottle in a tray designed to accommodate two bottles each star wheel I2 may be formed with set of three gripping means.

a single bottle receiving space and other portions of the bottle positioning mechanism may be proportioned to accommodate. Such an arrangement would not require changes in the present structure other than in the timing of cams and spacing of guides, since the bottle gripping means will operate whether a bottle is presented thereto or not, and star wheel I2 may be so formed as to present a single bottle to any one of the In another aspect, a greater number of bottles than three may be positioned in longer trays designed to accommodate eight, ten or any number of bottles. Such an arrangement merely requires the altering of star wheel I2 to have a greater number of Lottle receiving spaces, and the rearrangement of other parts of the mechanism to accommodate a greater number of bottles than that shown. The disclosed form is designed to pack bottles in standard trays accommodating six bottles, for the reason that six bottles is a universal unit in the beverage industry, and practically allaspects of the industry are designed to accommodate units of six bottles. For example, the standard bottle carton is of a length to accommodate a row of six bottles, and conveyors, trucks. and all other mechanisms in the usual plant are designed for this unit. None of the functions, operations and essential parts of the component parts of the bottle packing machine need be 3 changed to accommodate other units of bottles or other articles.

Tray feeding mechanism As previously described, the pulp trays are fed 1 into the machine over the table'52 extending forward between bottle receiving tables 50 and 5|. For this purpose the table is formed with suitable side guides and has a chain I00 (Fig. '7) extending over its length, driven by suitable gearirg IOI which is rotated in a manner to be described later. Chain I00 carries suitably spaced lugs I02 which are pivoted at I03 and are arcuately slotted at I04, a pin I05 fitting in the slot. As the lower point of the lug I02 contacts a guide I06 at the forward end of table 52, the lug pivots around I03 and assumes an upright position to bring the tray" forward, and as the lug rides off of guide I06 it will drop to a horizontal position beneath the bottom of the tray which is thereupon picked up by lugs on a chain to be fed through between the bottle gripping conveyors, as will be later described. It will sometimes happen that for some reason the supply of pulp trays becomes exhausted, and for this reason it is desirable that the operator who is placing the pulp trays should be able to stop the bottle gripping mechanism until he is again able to feed trays forward. However, it is also desirous that an empty tray should not be fed through the machine, and for this reason he should be able to allow the bottle gripping mechanism to fill the last tray which has been fed forward. It is also obvious that the star wheels should not be stopped except when a tray has been completely filled.

thereupon placed in the path of a clutch dog (Fig. which is normally biased in operativeposition by a spring I". This clutch dog mem-' ber carries a clutch pawl .I I8 (Fig. 14) mounted the path of dog 6 disengages the clutch and the star wheel I2 remains stationary until another tray is in position and ready to receive bottles.

' During this time the bottle gripping mechanism will have placed the last of a set of bottles within the last tray and the remainder of the machine will thereafter continue to operate until stopped, as will be later described. When the member I I0 is released to again engage the clutch the last set of bottles to be gripped will be in readiness to be placed within the first of the new groupof trays.

Bottle placing mechanism chains and sprockets operated at the same speed as the tray conveying mechanism. It is obvious that the .bottle gripping units are exactly similar but in reversed relationship so that the operation of one unit in relation to the tray conveyor will suffice for the entire mechanism.

Both the bottle gripping mechanism and the tray conveyor are 'driven through the same set of gearing including the gearing previously described to drive shaft 59. Located on shaft 59 is a sprocket I40 which drives a sprocket I through a chain I42 (Fig. 6). The sprocket I is fixed to a shaft I43 at one end of the tray conveyor table and a similar sprocket I44 fixed to a shaft I45 is located at the opposite or tray receiving end of the tray conveying table. Both sprockets HI and I44 in reality comprise two sprockets each of which may be Joined to a central hub or to the shaft 59 and a double sprocket chain I 46 passes around the sprockets and car-' ries slats or bars I upon which the trays are adapted to rest. Pushers I 48 are attached to suitable ones of the bars I41 and engage the rear ends of the trays as they are fed forward by the chain I00 and lugs I02. Pushers I48 are so located with respect to the bottle gripping mechanism that each of the tray pockets designed to receive a bottle will be in line with the bottle as it is deposited in the tray. In Fig. 6 it is seen that gearing IOI which drives sprocket chain I 00 is driven by a gear l49'attached to shaft I45 so that the chain I00 and the tray conveyor are driven in proper synchronism.

Also mounted upon shaft 59 are two opposed bevel gears 200 (Fig. each of which drives one of the bottle gripping conveyor chains. Being opposed, they will drive the conveyor chains in opposite direction so as to bring the bottles in the same direction of movement over the central tray conveying table. Gear 200 meshes with aosaese a bevel gear I fixed to an upright shaft 202 which extends upward at one end of a standard or support-for the bottle gripping chain. Fixed to shaft 202 are .two sprockets 303 each of which drives a sprocket chain! in vertically ced relationship. about the gripper support. Suitable ones of the links of the sprocket chain 204 are adapted to hold lugs on the main body 203 of the bottle gripping members. The bottle grippers comprise a main body portion 200 which has a vertical rear face terminating in horizontal flanges or guides 200 which are adaptedto be retained in grooves 201, having covering face plates 208,on the support to guidethe bottle grippers in their longitudinal travel on both sides of the support. These grooves and plates maintain the grippersin accurate alignment and vertical position. Spaced arms '2ll'iextend for-- ward and downward from the lower end of the body portion 200 and are formed to receive a main pivot through holes in the ends of arms 2" and which passes through adjacent hole's'in the lower end of the pivoted gripper support 2, The gripper support is formed with a shelf 2I2 and an upright portion having openings 2I3 and 2I4 in its uppermost part. Thesupport 2 carries a roller 2I6 at its lower end and has ears 2I1 near its lower end adapted to support a pivot 2I8 about which a bell crank carrying a second roller 2I0 pivots (Fig. 12). The opposite end of hell crank is attached by a linkage 220 to an arm 22I supported on a central portion of the main pivot 222 extending through members 205 and 2. A rod 223 is pivoted to the free end of arm 22I and extends upward through opening 2 in member 2. A spring 224 bearing against the top of member 2 and a pin 22! through rod 223 tends to force rod 223 and arm 22I downward and roller 2" outward away from the vertical as seen in Fig. 15. Attached to the 1 free end of rod 223 is a bottle top gripping memher 230 so formed as to receive and seat the capped end of a bottle. Member 230 also carries a short downwardly extending guide rod 23l (Fig. 10) which passes throughopening 2" in member 2 to maintain the alignment of member 230. A bottle guide 232 is attached to member 2II slightly above the shelf 2I2 to align and guide the bottom of the bottle.

In order to cause the member 230 to be raised to receive a bottle from the star wheel 12 and to be lowered to grip the bottle, then to be again raised to release the bottle as it assumes a horizontal position in the tray, the following system of cams or tracks is utilized: Along the outside edge of the gripp ng mechanism support is a straight track 250 (Fig. 11) which engages the roller 2I6 to maintain member 2 in a vertical plane and against an adjustable stop I in the forward face of member 205'. The cam 250 abuts a circular half-moon cam or track 252 at each end of the support, and as rollers 2I6 travel around the end of the support the bottle grippers will still be maintained in vertical position thereby. However, along the inner face of the support the bottle grippers must be tipped to assume a substantially horizontal. position, and to accomplish this the rollers 2I0 are guided between curved guides or cams 253 and, 254 which are so shaped that the bottles are caused to assume a horizontal position at the center of the gripper support and thereupon will be released. after which the gripper again assumes a vertical bottle. Adjacent the star wheel 12 is a small cam (ill plate 260 which is so positioned that it will force the rollers 219 inward (Fig. 12) and consequently the gripping member 230 upward, while the bottle gripper is opposite the star wheel. During this time a bottle will be brought into position by the star wheel and placed on shelf 2l2 of the gripper and against the guide on member 230 and the guide 232 by the spring pressed pivoted arm 19. As roller 2 l9 passes the end of cam plate 260 the spring 224 will again lower the gripper 230, and the bottle will be securely held in position on shelf 2 I 2. As the gripping mechanism assumes a horizontal position roller 2!!! is again forced in the same direction by a small cam plate 26l attached to the cam track 253 and in the manner previously described'will raise member 230 to release the bottle. It has been found that various conditions contribute to a lack of uniformity in the size of pulp trays or to their exact positioning on the conveyor chain and also that slight variations in the bottles themselves occur; As a result, although cam 260 may be so proportioned as to raise member 230 a substantial distance, cam 26l is preferably positioned so that it will raise member 230 to give a slight clearance of the bottles in order not to break the walls of the pulp tray. Due to the variance in size of the bottles it might happen that one would not be released, but would again be picked up and carried through the machine which might result disastrously were it not for the ball connection 11 between shaft 15 and star wheel 12. However, in order to avoid the resultant delay and possible danger, stripper fingers 202 (Fig. 6) are so positioned above the line of travel of the trays as to positively strip the bottles from the bottle gripping mechanism before cam 26l releases roll-er H9, and in this way none of the bottles are allowed to leave the trays once they have been placed therein.

Member 230 is adjustably attached to rod 223 so that it may be raised or lowered in order to accommodate various sizes of bottles. An important feature of my device is that the grippers are able to accommodate variations in a single size of bottle without adjustment. It is practically impossible to manufacture bottles in uniform standard dimensions and as a result the capped bottles vary as much as three-eighths of an inch in height. The spring 224 allows member 230 to be raised above the top of the highest possible bottle of a certain capacity, and is thus compensatory to grip and hold each bottle that comes within the variable limits of height set for bottles of each capacity.

Tray stacking mechanism As the filled trays leave the forward end of the machine they are received in a stacking mechanism which is so operated as to stack the trays one above the other if it is so desired. The preferred manner of packing pulp trays and bottles is to place four in a carton, and for the present mechanism will be be described for stacking four trays. However, it is to be appreciated that the trays may be placed in cartons singly or in any other plural number.

Referring to Figs. 8, 15 and 20, a sprocket chain 200 is positioned on each side of the rear end of the conveyor I40 and carries lugs 30! which are pivoted to the chain and have arms which are adapted to engage stops 302 on the chain. These lugs will be forced into operative position while above a bar 303. The chains 300 are driven at a greater speed, preferably twice the speed of the chain I46, and are so timed that a lug 30l will engage a. filled tray and remove it from engagement with the pusher I48 as soon as the tray has passed beyond the stripper fingers 262. Traveling twice as fast as chain I46, chain 300 will take a filled tray to its farther end and still allow time for the stacking mechanism to operate before the next tray is brought to this position. As the tray reaches its foremost position it is above a vertically reciprocating stacking member 305 which supports the full length of the tray. Chains 300 extend alongside of stacking member 305 but the lugs 30| drop to a horizontal position upon passing the end of bar 303. Guide plates 306 having curved ends are placed on either side of the stackingmember 305 to align the trays in lengthwise relationship to the chains 300 so that as each tray is brought into position over member 305 it will have been pushed forward in exact alignment against a back plate 301. The tray is thus practically boxed in on three sides, assuring vertical alignment of the sides of the stack. Sprocket chains 300 are driven from suitable gearing to be described. I

The sprocket chains 300 are driven by sprockets mounted on a shaft 3|5 which is driven by sprocket chain 3I6 (Figs. 1, 8 and 20). This sprocket chain is driven by a sprocket on a shaft 3l1 which is driven from the main driving shaft 59 through a mechanism hereafter described. Mounted on shaft 59 is a sprocket 318 (Fig. 15) driving a sprocket chain 3! and a sprocket 320 (Fig. 30) loosely mounted on shaft 3". A clutch is positioned adjacent sprocket 320 and is so designed as to be engaged at all times that filled trays are being fed forward by chain 300. However, if an empty tray should be fed forward by chain 300, the clutch will be disengaged in order that this may be rectified and to prevent the later stacking of empty trays. The clutch is so fashioned that a filled tray which has been fed forward into position above stacking member 305 will be stacked before the entire stacking mechanism comes to rest as will be hereafter described. This coordination is accomplished by afeeler 32I which is positioned above the end of the tray conveyor I46 of the tray filling machine and is fixed to a rod 322 carrying an arm 323. Links 324 and 325 and a bell crank 326 operate a pawl 321 which cooperates with other members to engage or disengage the clutch. Pawl 321 is pivoted to a clutch lever 333 pivoted to the machine frame, the clutch .lever carrying a shoe 334 (Figs. 30-35) As the filled trays pass under the feeler 32| the bottles will hold the feeler upward, thus continuously raising the pawl 321. However, should there be no tray presented to the feeler or if the tray should be entirely empty the feeler 32! will drop far enough to allow pawl 321 to come into engagement with a notch 328 in a horizontal yoke or double arm 329 which at one end is supported by shaft 3H and at the other end is pivoted to a connecting link 330 pivoted to the frame. ,The free end of the arm 329 which is supported by shaft 3l1. carries a roller 33I in engagement with a cam 332 fast to shaft 3l1. It is obvious that as shaft 3l1 is continuously rotated by sprocket chain 319 the cam 332 will reciprocate arm 329 in a horizontal plane and that as long as pawl 321 is maintained upward the clutch will not be affected. Should pawl 321 be lowered as seen in Fig. 34, cam 332 will rock arm 329 and the clutch lever 333 toward the left to position the clutch shoe 334 in line with a clutch dog 335.

Cam 322 is fixed to shaft 3l1 which operates the stacking mechanism once for every tray or maintained in vertical conversely once for 3H. Therefore, the speed of rotation of cam 322 is once for every tray and arm 329 will be reciprocated once for every tray. This shows that the cam is so positioned on the shaft that pawl 321 will be engaged by notch 323 and moved forward at the time that the leading edge of a tray should lift the feeler 32l. As a result if a tray is present the pawl will be lifted clear of the notch and the clutch will notbe affected but if there is no tray the clutch will be disengaged. Cam 332 is so proportioned that roller 33l is in engagement with the low portion of the cam during the time that the normal space between trays passes beneath feeler 32! and roller 33! will be riding upward on the high point of cam 332 to rock .arm 329 at the time that the leading edge of the next tray passes below the feeler.

The clutch dog 335 is fixed to the driving member J33-(Fig. 35) of the clutch and carries a cluth lug 333 adapted to engage a depression in the driven member 331 of the clutch. Clutch dog 335 is spring biased to normally remain in its outermost engaged position, but when forced inward by clutch shoe 334 it will cause the clutch to disengage and remain disengaged as long as the feeler 32| is down. Clutch lever 333 is normally biased to inoperative position against a suitable abutment by a spring 339 so that the clutch will normally remain engaged.

The disengagement of the clutch will only occur after the tray which has previously passed the feeler has been fed into stacker 335. Shaft 3" drives the stacking mechanism and the packaging mechanism, and it is obvious that this end of themachine will cease to operate at any time that the feeler 32! drops. This, however, does not stop the forward end of the machine and its only effect is to prevent mechanism will again operate at the point where it left off.

The feeler 32l comprises in reality a sensing device to sense the presence or absence of filled holding trays.

its highest position when the point of the feeler is above the neck of a bottle. However, the feeler is so shaped that this is not sufficient drop to allow the pawl order to have engagement take place the feeler must drop to the position it would assume should a holder be completely empty. Cam 332 is so positioned with respect to the advance of holders that it will not advance arm 329 during the time that the feeler 32| drops into the space between holders. The feeler is so fashioned that it will ride up onthe leading edge of the .next holder and raise the pawl 321 before cam 332 operates. The mechanical/feeler or sensing means 32l and associated parts is the most practical and satisfactory form of sensing device. However, electrical or magnetical means may therefor by the exercise of mechanical skill.

In Figs. 1, 2, 8 and 20-29, inclusive, various details of the stacking mechanism are illustrated. The stacking member '335 is fixed to the end of a vertically reciprocating support 315 which is alignment by links 313 and 313, pivoted to the frame. Link 313 has an every revolution of shaft position over the In Fig. 30 it is seen that feeler 32| may drop to a position slightly lower than 321 to engage in notch 323, and in be substituted 433 is attached extension 319 to which is fixed a spring 333 so adjustable as to relieve a lifting cam from most of the work of raising the stacker and a filled tray supported upon it. Link 316 carries a roller 33I engaging with a cam 392 and which is ad- Justably mounted on arm 316 so as to provide for adjustment in the lift of member 335. Cam 332 is continuously rotated by shaft M1 and has a sharp operating period so that a tray quickly raised and the stacker immediately lowered to receive the next oncoming tray. Also fixed to shaft 3" are two cams 393 which operate similar stack-holding shelves, one of which will be described. Lever 39l pivoted at its center to the machine frame, carries a roller 392 in engagement with the cam'393. The opposite end of the lever carries a vertical link 393 which is pivoted to one end of. a' member 394 pivoted to the frame of the machine. A vertical support 395 rises from an intermediate portion of member 394 and carries a shelf or tray support 396 at its upper end. A plunger 391 guided in the frame and biased inwardly against member 395 by a spring 393 bears against the member 395- and forces it inwardly at all times except when roller 392 is engaged by the operating point of cam 393, this engagement occurring slightlyln advance of the maximum lifting point of cam 332. As a result themembers 395 and the opposed shelves 3 96 will be forced outward at the moment when the bottles in a tray on stacking member 335 engage the bottom of the previously stacked tray, but before the tray being lifted Jams against the bottom of shelves 396. However, should the oncoming tray for any reason have a bottle tilted or misplaced, it is obvious that member 395 can pivot outward against the thrust of springs 393 before roller 392 is engaged so that serious trouble will be avoided should any accident of this nature occur. Shelves 396 are pivoted to supports 395 in such manner that if a bottle should become misplaced it will merely pivot outward while the bottle is in engagement therewith. A spring (not shown) may assist in returning the shelf to its proper position as member 335 reaches its highest point.

The timing of cams 392 and 393 is such that the cam 3'93 completely operates before cam 332 is at its maximum high point and. springs 393 will snap the shelves 396 into supporting position below the tray before the stacking member 335 begins to recede. In the present instance four. trays will be stacked and supported onshelves 396 before the stack is moved out of the stacking mechanism as will be described, but obviously a single tray or any other number of trays may be stacked if the tionship of later described parts is followed.

Carton packing mechanism The trays are now stacked'and means are provided to remove the stack from the stacking mechanism, compress it into a minimum vertical height and place the stack in a carton. Figs. 1, 2, 8 and 20-28, inclusive, illustrate the means for removing the stack from the stacking mechanism. Fixed to shaft 3" is a gear 433 meshing with and driving a gear I fixed to a shaft 432 extending through the machine to the front of the machine.v A large pusher operating cam to this end of shaft 432 and a rod 434, guided by a yoke about shaft 432, carries a roller 435 which engages the surface of cam 433. Rod 434 is connected to a bell crank 431 which rocks a rod 433 as the large operatwill be 

